View our posts

12/11/24

An inspiring day at Queen Mary University London! Our students got hands-on with real lab experiences, deepening their passion for science and discovery. #FutureScientist#QMUL! 🔬👩‍🔬 pic.twitter.com/wZtLBdsYk8

17/10/24

Thanks to everyone for signing up to support us through ! Every donation you raise really helps! If you haven't signed up yet, it's easy and FREE. 8,100 brands will donate when you use to shop with them. Visit: https://t.co/AiULBvQa24

15/10/24

Today’s lunch menu has a Mexican theme and the food look great. pic.twitter.com/nXFh2aZuA7

11/10/24

HAO shout out to Mrs Mitchell for winning a Transforming Lives Award!! pic.twitter.com/9hpAqIKOev

11/10/24

We are delighted to announce that entries are now open for the 2025 Pearson National Teaching Awards! Join us and celebrate the fantastic work of your colleagues by nominating them in one of 16 categories today: https://t.co/9k7eL9n3w3 pic.twitter.com/XIzIyOyUYD

11/10/24

An amazing Harris is Harmony performance, bringing together some exceptionally talented students and staff from all the academies. pic.twitter.com/QcVsM0KXmo

11/10/24

Well done to all the inspected academies of 2024 so far!!!Massive shout out to HACH staff for this great achievement! 💎🔵 pic.twitter.com/x4VoMjKs2U

11/10/24

World Mental Health Day gave us some time for reflection...There is profound emotional and social benefits of sports participation for children, especially those from low-income backgrounds. Children in these settings often face challenges, report lower life satisfaction and… pic.twitter.com/Hqi3S4hobc

11/10/24

Sir Dan Moynihan welcomes 5000 members of staff, and gives a special welcome to our newest academy pic.twitter.com/Zg1qzF10n0

11/10/24

We look forward to welcoming you to our annual conference ‘Claiming the Future- Beating the Odds’. Registration is now open! Have a fabulous day colleagues. pic.twitter.com/PpLKkvKgYo

11/10/24

Conference 2024!Claiming the Future, Beating the Odds pic.twitter.com/tTdK3kTFc5

04/10/24

Deadline - First week after the half term. pic.twitter.com/jAeP9I6A06

04/10/24

Competition Time! As part of , students are being asked to research a figure whose story we might not know. pic.twitter.com/F0QAHW5jD2

04/10/24

Some art work and excellent examples of maths are also on display. pic.twitter.com/DWNOxF2s3g

04/10/24

Some excellent food options from this week and sneak peek at todays lunch. Yum! pic.twitter.com/rhN5XtkCld

04/10/24

Our boards have been updated with great work from students but also, next step and careers information. Here are just a few examples within maths pic.twitter.com/iqM2vnB4o5

02/10/24

Just some of the amazing food that has been available from the canteen this week. pic.twitter.com/B26yWUYBm7

27/09/24

Additional Open Mornings.Due to popular demand we have added two extra dates!Tuesday 1st October & Wednesday 2nd October,  both start at 9AM.To book a place on either day, please click the link. https://t.co/v7KyXuUeUtWe look forward to seeing you then! pic.twitter.com/e9FUfgscdX

26/09/24

…With the whoosh bottle literally lifting the ceiling tiles. 💨 pic.twitter.com/tAwwwDviUE

26/09/24

Whilst the open evening has ended, here are a few videos from the science team.Miss Roberts bringing in a musical element to the science labs. 🎶 pic.twitter.com/cGdSZA2Cc7

Harris Academies
All Academies in our Federation aim to transform the lives of the students they serve by bringing about rapid improvement in examination results, personal development and aspiration.

Central Office

Bexley

Brent

Bromley

Clapham

Croydon

Greenwich

Haringey

Havering

Merton

Newham

Southwark

Stratford

Sutton

Thurrock

Wandsworth

Westminster

Physical Education

 

What is the intention of the curriculum?

We endeavour to provide positive experiences to promote lifelong engagement in sport and exercise; as well as offering individuals opportunities to achieve their optimum potential in physical education.

 

Sport plays an important part in the life of the school Harris Academy Orpington seeks to enable each student to pursue their chosen sport to the highest level whilst providing all members of the school with the opportunity to enjoy and experience a variety of physical activities. Additionally, the development of personal skills within a social setting can be enhanced by participating in an appropriate and sensitively designed Physical Education programme. 

·         To promote a healthy active lifestyle – both to develop and retain a rich knowledge of health and fitness; and to ensure students possess the physical skills to do so. 

·         To provide opportunities to expand their involvement and experiences in sport through our extracurricular programme. 

·         To apply physical education curriculum that incorporates the 3 domains of learning – the Hands (motor competency), the Head (cognitive competency), and the Heart (attitude to learning and participation) … 

 

 

HANDS: To help students build a number of motor skills and physical competency. 

HEAD: To increase understanding of rules, techniques, tactics and strategies to excel in activities, sports, and games.  

HEART: To explore and enhance feelings, attitudes, and values in sport such as resilience and teamwork. 


Key Stage 3

Year 7, 8 and 9 Physical Education is focused upon developing students' competence and confidence. Our curriculum is broad and balanced as we offer a vast array of sports and activities.  These include games, gymnastics and athletics-based sports, as well as and fitness related sessions. Students

Students in Year 7 get to experience dance and gymnastic activities along with throwing and catching invasion games, with the purpose of giving them a chance to develop their physical literacy and physical skills and knowledge. In year 8 students get to experience Outdoor Adventurous Activity in the form of team building and orienteering as part of their curriculum to foster and promote important problem solving and team-building skills. In the summer term of Year 9 students get to experience our alternative sports of Ultimate Frisbee and Lacrosse, again providing more opportunities to students to experience sports that are not usually available to them and to challenge them further.

We strongly believe in an inclusive curriculum and this is represented in our approach. All students will get the opportunity to participate in the sport provide with no exception. Additionally as part of our inclusive approach, all our classes at Key Stage 3 are mixed ability and mixed gender. We believe this helps break down barriers and eliminates misconceptions around certain sports, as well as builds confidence, resilience, team-work and problem solving skills in our students.

Furthermore, Key Stage 3 Physical Education lessons allow students to work as individuals and in groups and teams, developing notions of fairness and personal/social responsibility. Students will take on different roles and responsibilities, including leadership, coaching and officiating. Through the range of experiences that PE offers, students learn how to be effective in competitive, creative and challenging situations.

Aside from the curriculum students have the opportunity to further develop and consolidate their practical ability through the academy’s enrichment programme as well as extracurricular clubs and competitions.

The added intention is to ensure that students study a range of sports and activities that are very broad and balanced.

Activities on the key stage 3 curriculum include;

  • Games (netball, rugby, basketball, rounders, cricket, badminton, tennis)
  • Gymnastics & dance
  • Athletics
  • Fitness

Key Stage 4

Year 10, 11 Physical Education core curriculum is focused upon encouraging students to engage in physical activity in an effective and enjoyable manner so that they make informed lifelong decisions about health and fitness in their future lives. Lessons enable students to consolidate what has been taught at Key Stage 3, but also to develop the ability to use tactics, strategies and compositional ideas developing students' competence and confidence. Our curriculum remains broad and balanced as we offer a vast array of sports and activities and introduce alternative activities from those delivered at key stage 3. As a department we work with the students to deliver activities which we think will encourage their lifelong participation. This allows the students to feel ownership over the curriculum and increase motivation whilst at the same time ensuring that all students participate in a good range over the academic year. We also encourage students to undertake different roles and responsibilities, demonstrating to students that participation takes on many forms for example; a coach. By allowing students to have an ongoing experience of a range of sports, activities and roles, we hope students have a better experience and further encourage a lifelong participation in sport and exercise.

Activities on the key stage 4 curriculum include;

  • Games (football, netball, rugby, basketball, rounders, cricket, badminton, tennis, volleyball, handball, softball)
  • Athletics
  • Fitness
  • OAA

Additionally, at Key Stage 4 students have the opportunity to study Pearson BTEC Level 2 First Award in Sport. This pathway is suited to highly motivated sporting students who partake in extra-curricular activities or play regular sport outside of school. It provides an educational base to enable each student to progress either to a PE A level or vocational qualifications at level 3. 

The course content includes;

  • Unit 1: Fitness for Sport and Exercise (Externally assessed). Learners explore different components of fitness and the principles of training. Learners will understand and apply the different types of training methods before using fitness testing to determine their own fitness.

 

  • Unit 2: Practical Sport Performance. Learners will focus on developing and improving their own performance, and will develop an understanding of rules, regulations, scoring systems, skills and techniques.

 

  • Unit 3: Applying the Principles of Personal Training. Learners look at the individual performer, training to improve and enhance personal fitness for one activity/sport.

 

  • Unit 5: The Sports Performer in Action. Learners develop more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the short-term responses and long-term adaptations of the body systems to exercise, as well as how energy systems are used during sports performance.

Key Stage 5

Students in Year 12 and 13 have the opportunity to study Physical Education further through either a Level 3 Extended certificate or Level 3 Diploma with Cambridge Technicals in Sports and Physical Activity. These pathways help expand upon the knowledge achieved in KS4 but are also appropriate for those looking to study Physical Education for the first time. Students who are highly motivated, organised, resilient and who have a considerable interest in sport are best suited to this course. This course consists of units that are assessed both internally and externally, with the units covering a broad range of topics within the scope of physical education and offering the learner a comprehensive understanding of physical education and enabling each student to progress into further education if they wish to.

The course content includes;

  • Unit 1: Body systems and the effects of physical activity (Externally assessed)
  • Unit 2: Sports coaching and leadership
  • Unit 3: Sports organisations and development (Externally assessed)
  • Unit 4: Working safely in sport, exercise, health and leisure (Externally assessed)
  • Unit 5: performance analysis in sport and exercise
  • Unit 8: Organisation of sports events
  • Unit 11: Physical activity for specific groups
  • Unit 13: Health and fitness testing for sport and exercise
  • Unit 17: Sports injuries and rehabilitation
  • Unit 18: Practical skills in sport and physical activities
  • Unit 19: Sport and exercise psychology

 


How will this be implemented?

 

KS3 Core PE

  • Nine sports are planned across one year and delivered in 4 weeks blocks on a rotation over a term. Each sport has been designed to include opportunities for pupils to develop the three domains of learning.
  • We actively encourage staff to interpret the medium-term plan and the five to six activities to be appropriate for their class context, ability and interest.
  • The medium-term plans have been planned for Harris Academy Orpington staff to follow and utilise i.e. 4-6 lessons (approximately one half term)

 

 

KS4 Core PE

  • Six to eight sports are planned across one year and delivered in a half-termly rotation. Each sport has been designed to include opportunities for pupils to engage in physical activity in an effective and enjoyable manner so that they make informed lifelong decisions about health and fitness in their future lives.
  • We actively encourage staff to interpret the medium-term plan and the five to six activities to be appropriate for their class context, ability and interest.
  • The medium-term plans have been planned for Harris Academy Orpington staff to follow and utilise i.e. 4-6 lessons (approximately one half term)

 

KS4 Examination PE

  • 120-guided-learning-hour qualification (equivalent in teaching time to one GCSE) is planned across two years.
  • The Long- Term Plan and Medium- Term Plans have been planned for staff to follow and utilise i.e. one unit per one-and-a-half terms). Staff set agreed tasks in line with the assignments briefs for each unit.
  • The majority of the units are assessed through internal assessment, which means that we can deliver the programme in a way that suits our learners.
  • Pupils are given all the preparation, feedback and support they need to undertake an assessment before they begin producing their evidence.

 

KS5 Examination PE

  • 360-guided-learning-hour qualification for the extended certificate (equivalent in teaching time to one A-Level) and 540-guided-learning-hour qualification for the diploma (equivalent in teaching time to two A-Levels) is planned across two years.
  • Lesson structure and long-term planning follows the same format as Key Stage 4 lessons, other than an increased emphasis on independent learning so lessons are focused on depth of knowledge and application.
  • The majority of the units are assessed through internal assessment, which means that we can deliver the programmes in a way that suits our learners and which relates to the local need.
  • Pupils are given all the preparation, feedback and support they need to undertake an assessment before they begin producing their evidence.

To monitor the quality of teaching by physical education, staff leadership within the department will complete learning walks, book and coursework scrutinises, and observations to ensure that students at Harris Academy Orpington are taught to the highest possible standard and that teachers are held accountable for the learning of their classes. Feedback is then given to teachers and either best practise can be shared or any necessary support can be put into place.


How will we judge the impact of this curriculum?

Students at Key Stage 3 will be able to speak with confidence about their physical literacy. They will be able to explain their physical competency and knowledge, as well as how their character and confidence will impact on their sports performance and their overall health and wellbeing. The breadth and depth allow students to find an area of the curriculum which appeals to them and helps to promote a positive attitude towards having an on-going healthy and active lifestyle.

At Key Stage 4 CORE the students will demonstrate positive engagement in sport and exercise through a programme tailored to their needs in order that the positive engagement continues beyond the classroom.

Students at Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 within the examined curriculum will gain qualifications which allow them to access further education courses and pursue possible careers in all areas of the sports and exercise industry.